From SAT’s, AP exams and plain old math tests, studying can be a painful, stressful process for many. Even after many hours of studying, the results may not reflect the effort you put in. Optimizing your preparation is essential to performing well on exams and having a healthy balanced schedule. Here are some of the best study tips to optimize your test scores all while keeping a balanced schedule.
Take only the important notes
Many times, in class note-taking can get boring, or even tedious when you focus on copying down every single word and not process the material being taught. Having effective and efficient note taking will subliminally train your brain for the test. Concise information of the key details is much better than scattered broad information.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill wrote an informative blog on how to effectively take notes. Notes should connect to each other, providing a basis for your intuition to be trained. When only concise information is carefully written down in an organized manner, memorization can come naturally. Things like previewing the content are very effective in building foundations in your mind to properly comprehend the material.
Develop intuition/interest
Forcing yourself to be interested in the contents of exams is very important for optimal performance. When our brains are interested in things, it releases dopamine which motivates us to work harder by positive reinforcement. Many high performers seemingly just know the answer in a split second.
Building strong intuition is key, as one junior, Eric Chen, said, “sometimes you can figure out the answer but just don’t know how you did it.” Intuition can be developed by trying to focus on parts of the subject that interest you, asking your own unique questions regarding the material and maximizing your health to strengthen your brain’s natural problem-solving skills.
Take an excessive amount of practice tests
Sometimes, the notes never feel or look like the actual test itself. Memorizing information does not always correlate to good problem-solving skills. Perfect your brain in solving the task itself by directly taking the test. Taking five practice tests, analyzing your weaknesses, and building on that is the key to efficient improvement.
Practicing a dance 1000 times will definitely make you better at it than watching someone else do it 1000 times. Find out what works for you, and practice till perfection using mock exams.
